


Also a kind of romance

by Koderi



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Dentists, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:15:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27496312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koderi/pseuds/Koderi
Summary: What a beautiful day! At least it was until Jeremy's teeth started to hurt. And going to the dentist is a torture.
Relationships: Jeremy Heere/Jeremy Heere's Squip
Kudos: 24





	Also a kind of romance

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Тоже своего рода романтика](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/711886) by Koderi. 



> This fanfiction is a translation from Russian (the original is mine too). Perhaps the sentences here may seem long, and the narrative style might look unusual. English is not my native language, so please point out mistakes if you find them.

Jeremy Heere’s room is a complete chaos. The boy hardly pulled out his second sock from under the bed, which didn’t fit the first one in color, but who cares? The jeans hide such a fact anyway. Jeremy wasn't in a hurry to get dressed. As if for the last time pulling a sweater, he was mentally cursing the whole world. Especially the part where there was a meticulous computer assistant, more looking like a warden. Did they really need to ruin the rest of the day?

"I didn't want this," a deep voice of the supercomputer said, and a hologram of AI appeared right on the bed. "The evening could have ended differently if you hadn’t been so awkward."

"Ah, really?" the boy snorted, trying to put on his jeans. "Well, I thought you weren’t just bragging about your future-seeing ability."

"You exceeded all my expectations, congratulations," the SQUIP threw up their hands and rolled their eyes. "Even my program didn't see a more crushing failure."

Jeremy wrinkled his nose in displeasure, remembering what happened half an hour ago...

Winter. What usually comes to mind when we hear this word? Snow, frost, warm clothes, possibly sickness. If hostility to catching a cold is considered a fairly common thing, then hostility to everything else from this list is usually inherent in grumpy or just tired people. Jeremy Heere and Michael Mell were just such teens. After leaving the store they wrapped themselves in scarves and tried to stay close, hold on to each other and not fall on the ice face down.

"I have no idea how to take exams next week," Michael whined painfully. "You have, like, a calculator in your head, that can do almost anything. But I'm alone! Alone with physics!"

"You know, I'd rather learn everything myself than pay for the answers at the cost of my personal space," Jeremy exhaled, and a cloud of steam came out from his mouth. "Sometimes they forget about such a thing as being alone," no, the word "always" fits more.

Teens cautiously walked on the ice, talking on a variety of topics. Already approaching to the Heere's house they were discussing about MMORPG games, when suddenly the sand-haired boy's thinking was interrupted by the SQUIP.

"Jeremy, I have good news," the supercomputer was wearing a gray coat and a dark scarf wrapped around his neck. That puzzeled his owner.

"You... Changed your clothes," the host was genuinely surprised, even forgetting about the sudden news.

"I thought it would be more comfortable for you to see me dressed like this when it's cold," AI smiled smugly. "Remember, yesterday at the rehearsal, Mr. Reyes offered to arrange a kind of "Secret Santa" in honor of the successful productions of the play?"

"In February? Who even wants to spend money for this? Nobody supported him anyway," the boy looked around the yards, feeling embaressed due to the large number of people who decided to go out into the fresh air.

"Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Don't forget that there is one person in the theater club who cannot resist such... Entertainment."

"So what?"

"In your mailbox with a probability of 98.9% there is a keychain bought for a dollar," noticing a fleeting thought in the head of their host, the SQUIP smiled wider. "Yes, it's a gift from Christine. She gave these to all the members of the clu- Hey, watch out!"

As soon as he heard the words of the computer, Jeremy, being just a couple of steps from his house, ran as fast as he could. With only one thought in his head that his beloved girl had given him something, the boy completely forgot why he was walkinhg so slowly and carefully. A second passed, and the whole street was already observing Heere, lying with his face down, who hit the ice with his jaw. The teen lay motionless for a couple of moments. Finally, accompanied by the curious glances of passersby he tried to stand up, hissing not the most censored words.

"Damn, dude," Michael held out his hand to a friend and helped him get up. "Does it hurt?"

"Yeah," Jeremy rubbed at the bruised spot, but made it even worse. "Fucking winter."

"You know, just forget about it," the gamer smiled encouragingly and looked around. "But it would be better for us to leave now until anyone recognize you."

Michael helped his friend reach the mailbox and gave him a pack of chips that he found in a backpack. The gamer wanted to offer to play "Megaman 2", but the mothers, who started calling him as soon as their son was delayed ten minutes longer than usual, made him run home immediately.

Next the situation was quite simple: returning to his room and opening Christine's gift, Jeremy decided to end a pack of chips. However, as soon he started chewing, the boy whined, feeling as if the teeth on the left side of the jaw seemed to decide to remind him of all his mistakes. The joy of the gift disappeared, and its place was taken by SQUIP, that immediately demanded to go to the dentist, "It's better to overestimate the problem than underestimate it and lose your teeth and, therefore, the status in the school." What an asshole. They know that after the last visit to the dentist for another two weeks Jeremy dreamed of nightmares. If this talking tic-tac spoke a little later, Heere wouldn't have to dress and go to the clinic as if it was a place of his execute.

“You know how I feel about dentists,” the boy's hands trembled finely. "Well, not that it was my phobia, but it just makes me nervous and..."

"Jeremy," the computer interrupted him, "you put the sweater inside out. Besides, I feel you shaking," they raised their eyebrows and sighed.

Jeremy didn't answer, muttered something grumpy and began changing clothes again.

***

The clinic's corridors were filled with people: children, adults, employees, visitors... All of them, as one, got on the nerves with their conversations about the prices of services, the risks of using anesthesia and cases when the freeze suddenly stopped working right during the procedures. Jeremy let out a short breath.

"SQUIP? Are you here?"

There was no response. This is strange, usually the computer appears immediately. Heere wanted to ask the AI for help if the local painkillers don't work. However, when they didn't respond, the boy came up with a better idea. Trying not to think about it again, Jeremy, who had been sitting in the waiting room, got up from his chair and walked casually to the door. Turning the phone over in his hand, the sand-haired boy dialed Michael's number.

"Hey, are you free? We need to go as far away as possible right now."

"Did the cops get you, huh?" seems like Mell was playing Pac-man again.

"Yeah, sort of," Jeremy said with a grin as he walked over to the dressing room. "Meet me at your house in fifteen minutes. We can go to the ce- AGH!" the guy flinched and almost dropped his phone when he felt a damn electric current run through his hands.

"I suppose I should say that you are under arrest, Mr. Heere."

A computer was standing right outside the clinic, their eyes were piercing their host with a disapproving stare. AI crossed their arms over the chest.

"For resisting, you face a term in the dentist's office and two hours of correctional labor on the sports field. However, you can mitigate the punishment by stopping trying to escape like a coward."

"Why haven't you shown up before?" Jeremy rubbed his sore hands together and put the phone back in his pocket, feeling cornered.

"I was trying to understand the reason of your concern. I needed some time to go through your memories more carefully," the AI frowned in confusion. "But I didn't find anything. You have no good reason to be afraid of dental problems, so I assume that you suffer from dentophobia."

"Thanks, I didn't know it," the guy snapped, returning to the chair in the waiting room.

"You denied it. I only clarified this fact."

The sand-haired teen wanted to respond something to this talking tic-tac, but all the words seemed to leave his head when he heard a terrifying phrase.

"Jeremy Heere, you can come in!"

Okay, Jeremy. Breathe. Just breathe, damn it. And stop slouching, you're not a little boy anymore. Rise your chin higher, step more confident, you payed for this procedure.

"It's just amazing how dentists handle the task of making you a tough guy better than me," the SQUIP grinned.

Heere went into the office on jelly legs and looked around. White walls, white floor, white light... A shudder ran through his body. The cabinets were filled with weird medications, some kind of medical books and statuettes. The doctor herself was writing something in the notebook. She smiled, noticing her patient, and gestured him to sit down. Jeremy did so, sinking into a chair near the door.

"Oh, no, this one is for bags, silly," the woman laughed, "sit in the dental chair."

Great. It's time to keep a humiliations diary again. Jeremy heard a sigh of disappointment, as if the SQUIP didn't like this idea.

"So," the dentist looked at the boy expectantly when he finally took the right seat, "tell me what happened."

"W-well," he swallowed, "I was running d-down the street, tripped and fell. And n-now I have a toothache at t-the left side," Heere will never get rid of stuttering, huh?

"Okay, so I just have to check your little problem," the doctor smiled, taking out a mask and pulling on gloves. "Alright."

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. Here comes death. Heere's hands were sweating. It seems that his heart was pounding so fast and loud that someone could hear it in the next room. A cool ran through his entire body. One wrong move and the pain would spread to all his teeth, and then...

"Jeremy," a calm voice in boy's head interrupted the flow of anxious thoughts, "chill. While you are being examined, you will definitely not feel any pain."

"Chill? Fucking really? Well, thank you, it's much better now!" Heere didn't know what he was feeling. Is it fear or anger?

"Judging by your reaction, you're feeling both of them right now," the SQUIP's hologram appeared next to his host, "and my job is also to calm your negative emotions."

"Well then do something about it, jerk!"

The computer didn't need to be asked twice. Not knowing how to influence Jeremy more effectively, they did as their host wanted more: they squeezed his hand tightly. The boy even forgot for a couple of moments what he was doing in the hospital, feeling how plausible the program can imitate touch. Wow.

"Should I become Michael or Christine?"

"No. Don't. That would be awkward," if Heere could have laughed in his head, he would have let out a nervous chuckle. "You almost managed to convince me that you're really tou... Oh my God, what is this thing?!" he slumped back in the chair.

"This is just a dental probe," the SQUIP tried to calm Jeremy with these words, but he only got more frightened. "Uh, okay, let's try something else. Jeremy, close your eyes. Don't look," he snapped his fingers and forced the host to lower his eyelids. "Just listen to me."

Suddenly, the boy felt a weightless touch to his hair. It was so soft, as if it was difficult for the computer to imitate it, but Jeremy was willing to bet his life that the SQUIP was just trying to be gentle. The AI patted Heere uncertainly, as if watching his reaction and afraid to do something wrong.

"You know, that gift from Christine wasn't so bad," the computer's voice, surprisingly, wasn't mocking. "I doubt that she would have given a pink unicorn to some idiot," no, now the SQUIP is lying and grinning.

Surprisingly, Jeremy's anxiety was slowly subsiding. How is the computer doing it? Suddenly, the boy felt a hug from behind. The AI put his free left hand on the host's heart.

"I think I'll let you stay up late with Michael tonight. Waste your time as you wish," they grinned. "Or you can retire with your laptop and napkins. I don't think you'd want to combine both."

"How dare y-"

"Shhh," The SQUIP interrupted him, snuggling closer, "just kidding. You can combine them."

"SQUIP!" the boy indignanted.

Jeremy tried to argue, but couldn't help his rosy cheeks. Unexpectedly, the feeling of touch disappeared. Just like the computer did too. Heere opened his eyes.

"Okay, I finished," the doctor put away the tools and smiled. "You can feel happy, nothing serious. You're a very lucky person."

"I wouldn't say so," the sand-haired boy muttered under his breath.

"So, look," she continued, "everything solid should be removed from your diet for a week. Eat soups, porridge, baby food is okay too," the dentist wrote a note on a notepad. "Come next Saturday or Sunday at two o'clock. I'll check you and let you go if nothing else happens," the doctor tore out a sheet of paper and handed it to her patient.

***

"Up, down, left, right, hold!" friends shouted, playing a game for the fourth hour in a row.

Michael, being not only a caring but also a neighborhood friend, kindly brought Jeremy a chocolate pudding made by his moms.

"Okay, okay, wait," he put the game on pause. "I have to call my parents. Like, proving I'm alive and stuff. Get the third bottle."  
"The cherry one?" oh, gods, who knew games would make them drink so much Pepsi. "There's only one left."  
"It's fine, dude," Mell left the room, leaving Jeremy alone.

The boy got up and trudged to the bed, where he was hiding some chips and soda. Only pulling out a bottle of Pepsi, Heere saw that the SQUIP was sitting on his bed.

"Are you gonna lecture me about healthy sleep or something?"

"No," the computer sighed, "I promised you I'd let you spend your time as you wish tonight."

"And what you said about the laptop..."

"No, no, that was a lie for the good," the AI grinned. "You have a fear of dentists, and I have a fear of seeing such scenes with your eyes, Jeremy."

What an asshole.


End file.
